STL’s 2016 WTO Moot Court Team won Best Written Submission and swept the Best Oralist Awards, earning Team Second Prize overall, at the Fifth Annual China WTO Moot Court Competition in Beijing on December 17-19, 2016. This year’s team is composed of four students: Kou Shangyangzi ’18, Wang Fengyang ’19, Zhang Jiayue ’19, and Zhang Xi ’19. Jiang Shan ’17 serves as the student coach.
The China WTO Moot Court Competition is jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) and two distinguished Chinese law schools. This year, sixteen teams from leading law schools across China participated in the Competition. STL’s team prevailed over teams from Southwest University of Political Science and Law and Wuhan University in the preliminary rounds, during which team members Zhang Xi and Zhang Jiayue earned individual distinction as Best Oralist for the Complainant and Best Oralist for the Respondent, respectively. The team’s superior written work throughout the Competition earned them the Best Written Submission Award, and earned student coach Jiang Shan the honor of Best Coach for Written Submission.
“Competing in the WTO Moot Court has deepened my understanding of anti-dumping, an issue that often involves China. Advocating before the expert judges and communicating with them outside of the courtroom increased my awareness of and respect for WTO practitioners and their vision for China’s greater role in the stage of international trade,” remarked Zhang Xi.
Wang Fengyang mentioned the team’s great advantage in legal reasoning and argumentation, which she attributed to STL’s unique legal education and teaching methodology. She also enjoyed “the unique team dynamics” and the memorable experience of competing side-by-side with her teammates.
The next stop for the WTO team is Singapore, where they will compete in February at the Asia-Pacific Regional Round of the ELSA WTO Moot Court Competition. The Regional Round will be contested by teams from Singapore, Australia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, and several other countries.
(Special thanks to WTO student coach Jiang Shan for contributing this news.)
